Cabinet Refinishing vs. Refacing: What's The Difference?

October 24, 2021

Cabinets, whether they’re in your kitchen, bathrooms, or garage, could use a facelift every now and then. Updating your look will eventually lead you to making the decision between refinishing or refacing your cabinets.


There will be several questions to consider in making this decision, including:

  • Are my cabinets all wood or do they have a laminate or veneer face?
  • Am I looking to go with a budget option or am I willing to pay a premium?
  • Are my cabinets in good condition or will they need major repairs?
  • Am I just looking to spruce up my cabinet’s color or am I wanting to change more about the aesthetics, such as drawer pulls, hardware, and drawer boxes?


Asking these questions can help in understanding the differences between cabinet refinishing and refacing. Below we will dive into the cost differences between refinishing vs refacing and the physical differences between the two.

What's The Difference Between Refacing & Refinishing?

If you are happy with the current configuration of your cabinets, your cabinets are in decent shape, and you’d just like to re-stain or opt for a change in paint color, then refinishing could be the move for you. A simple breakdown of cabinet refinishing involves:


  1. Removing the cabinet and drawer faces
  2. Repairing minor damage
  3. Removing the existing stain or paint via chemical stripper and/or sanding
  4. Cleaning off any dust, wood, and paint particles
  5. Applying your new stain or paint before replacing the drawers and faces


Refacing, on the other hand, will involve removing and completely replacing the cabinet faces and drawers.


In addition, you may consider replacing the cabinet hardware, drawer pulls, end panels, toe kicks, and more. The cabinet frames will be sanded and cleaned, and an adhesive will be applied for a laminate or veneer finish to stick to. Once this step is completed, your new, finish-matched cabinet faces and drawers can be installed with your new hardware and pulls.

Is It Cheaper to Refinish or Reface Your Cabinets?

White kitchen cabinets freshly refinished

As you probably inferred from the above section, there is less involved with cabinet refinishing than there is with refacing. As such, you’ll find that cabinet refinishing almost always costs less than refacing.


How much less? On average, cabinet refinishing will cost around three to four times less than cabinet refacing, according to HomeAdvisor.


Factors that play into the total cost of refinishing or refacing cabinets will be quality of materials, labor costs, design demands, amount of damage to be repaired, and overall number of cabinets to be worked. If time, space, and know-how are factors in going through with a project like this, hiring a professional to carry out the work can often be the best route to go.

Get In Touch With Oceanside Painting & Refinishing

When you’re ready to give your kitchen, garage, or bathroom a facelift, reach out to Oceanside Painting & Refinishing for your cabinet refinishing needs. We’ve got an experienced team to carry out the work, and the family feel you know you can trust.


You’ll never be a rushed job or a first-time trial – unlike a handyman trying his best to figure things out along the way. Our consultative approach means that we’ll listen to what your project goals are, offer our feedback, then perform the work to your scope and budget.


Give Oceanside Painting and Refinishing a call at 732-818-0092 or shoot us an email at phil.oceanside@gmail.com.

Get Your Free Estimate Now!

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